Artificial intelligence is beginning to reshape the talent lifecycle at Salesforce, from how candidates prepare for interviews to what the company looks for when hiring and how existing employees are expected to adapt to the technology, Suzana DelliSanti, EVP, Global Talent Acquisition, Salesforce told FE.
Salesforce provides candidates with an AI-powered “candidate coach” during the recruitment process, allowing them to prepare for interviews.
“By having a candidate coach (we) can help candidates with questions that they don’t want to ask the recruiter or the hiring manager. It can help candidates with simple questions about the interview team that they are meeting with, or help prep for the interview,” DelliSanti said.
The tool allows candidates to get more insight into the company and is available even before a candidate becomes an employee, she added.
The shift to AI-led solutions is also changing how Salesforce assesses candidates. The company is looking at AI fluency across levels, including how candidates use AI, as it believes this will influence their ability to redesign their roles. In engineering, candidates are increasingly showcasing what they have built, including through open-source projects, rather than relying solely on traditional resumes.
The focus on AI does not end with recruitment. Salesforce has created a dashboard to track AI adoption and AI fluency across its workforce.
“From where we started to where we are today, I think that helped us really change the mindset of adopting AI and leveraging the tools that we have. It was less about the tracking mechanism; it was more about encouraging that adoption for an individual’s own growth, because as you’re using AI, you can also see how the workflows change, how the process changes, and you’re actually part of that change,” DelliSanti added.
The company has also made AI learning part of its internal transformation, with employees encouraged to use AI tools and executives themselves required to build agents as part of their learning.
This shift is extending to leadership, with continuous learning no longer a trait associated only with new graduates. Senior executives are increasingly expected to demonstrate adaptability and agility as technology and workplace practices change rapidly.
DelliSanti added that Salesforce views AI talent costs largely as a supply-and-demand issue, with highly publicised salaries representing only a small segment of AI roles. The company focuses on identifying required skills and hiring the right people for those roles.